


Dryad Faith

by yanai (oddfiend)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Dryad Vinsmoke Sanji, Fairy Tony Tony Chopper, Hamadryad Nami, Lumberjack Roronoa Zoro, M/M, Nereid Nico Robin, Nereids (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Nymphs & Dryads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddfiend/pseuds/yanai
Summary: Sanji's lived some many years being the forest most prominent protector—he's fought off lots of humans, who's planned to have a taste of their home territory. He's made some mistakes too, but now he's a dedicated fighter for the sake of his home. Zeff says that he might even make it to become an Elder, if he decides so.Sanji's got to decide something else entirely.
Relationships: Nami & Vinsmoke Sanji, Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 59





	Dryad Faith

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I've shared on my Twitter, which I haven't expected to grow past a max of 10 tweets; yet it has become some 180+ tweets. Thanks to [AU bot](https://twitter.com/au_idea_bot) on Twitter, this has become a 8,7k story with some heavy nymph lore divergence.
> 
> Please bear with me♥

"What the _hell?_ " Sanji snaps, jolting upright—it's the second time in a few hours that he feels a sharp, stinging pain in his arms out of nowhere.

Something must be happening with the trees under his supervision, but he can't leave the place he's at right now—his dear friend Nami is sick, she's been for a while and Sanji starts to suspect a reason behind that.

She weakly looks at him, heavy lidded, eyes unseeing, and whispers _‘Go’_ —and as much as he'd really like to, he can't leave her all alone, can he? Her birth tree got struck and burned by lightning, and there's so much he can do beside being at her service until she gets better.

She's _not_ getting better.

If anything, she only gets worse—he watches her beautiful fingers, created to give birth to plants and trees, darken and dry out; the ever delicate mikan tree blossoms in her hair yellow out and fall off, and her body feels so much lighter than it should. He taps at the walls of her home, calling up on the web of the trees that they have in their little forest, he needs to find a cure for her as soon as possible, before—and then he sees it. He _feels_ it.

His favourite apple tree at the edge of the forest is crying out in pain, as he feels the rhythmic blows at the very base of it. Sanji grits his teeth, immediately alert and angry, god forsaken lumberjacks are at it again—and his blood boils. In a moment of hesitation he turns to his friend, whose eyes are following him almost out of habit, and Sanji feels torn—his tree is being hewn, but his friend is here and she's _in pain_.

What if... What if those fucking assholes took to her trees too? And that's why she's not getting any better? Nami mouths "Go, Sanji" and he finally follows through, being absorbed into the tree, becoming one with the forest—until he's right inside the hurting tree and he bursts, lianas growing out of the tree in every direction, swirling and entangling everything in its way. Sanji himself appears a tad seconds later, atop the considerable cut in the apple tree trunk and he touches the blade of the axe that's got apprehended by his lianas.

There is a dumbstruck green haired guy staring at him wide eyed—as if he's never seen a nymph, which he probably hasn't or he wouldn't try to cut down their forest and upheave the wrath of the dryads on himself.

"Who are you? What the hell?" the man stutters, still gripping the white handle of the axe tightly—Sanji smiles wickedly and entangles it too. Suits him.

"Shouldn't those be my words?" he says, but immediately realises that the guy probably doesn't understand dryad language—he attunes it to the human one and repeats himself.

"I'm Zoro, and who the hell are you?" the guy bites, trying to free his hands—too late, too late.

"Sanji. That's not how you talk to a nymph whose tree you had just tried to destroy" he seethes, coming out of the tree fully and landing neatly on his toes—he feels the apple blossoms ruffle his hair, sprouting, and smiles. It's been so long since he fully separated himself from the tree and he almost forgot just how nice it is to walk in his little humanoid form.

"How the hell—" the guy apparently snaps back to his senses, now that they are the same height—if only he knew that they were this way solely because Sanji decided so.

"You come to our forest. You cut our trees. And you have the audacity to get angry?" Sanji steps into the personal space of the man, harshly cups his chin, the dark edges of his fingers a stark contrast to the man’s olive skin, and looks straight into his eyes. "Are you a fucking idiot?"

"I'm an idiot? You fucking come out of a fucking tree and speak in a god knows what language and I'm the idiot?" the man snarls.

Sanji looks at him closely, squinting—no, this one is totally new to this forest, he's never been here before. He's definitely not one of those assholes who're trying to clear out a whole section of his home to build a fucking town.

The ones they've been trying to hold back for several years with their joined forces.

"You're not one of them,” he says, inspecting him yet closer, and he sees the man back away as much as he can while still being held up with the vines. “Who are you?"

"I told you, I'm Zoro! Stop fucking trying to kiss me, asshole"

"What?!" Sanji backs away, surprised. "I'm not trying—"

"Yes you are!" Zoro growls, trying to kick him away, and Sanji snaps his fingers, forcing more vines to come out and bind the man to his place by his feet.

"I'm not into humans. And especially not _guys_ " Sanji spits to the side, letting go of the guy's chin. "You're filthy and you don't appreciate nature. I hate your kind" he forces, looking fiercely sullen.

"Huh?" Zoro snaps back. "My _kind_? Who the fuck are you, you bark-covered curly-brow bastard?"

" _What_ did you say?" Sanji feels like he's burning with anger, but he can't _really_ burn or he'd wound the trees. "You! You fucking _moss_ , how dare you?!"

More vines burst out of the tree at his command, encircling the man and tugging at every part of his body tightly, securing him in place.

"Moss?! What the _hell_!" the man shouts back, startling Sanji for a second, before he kicks the man in the shin and curses in his language, surprising the hell out of the intruder.

"Why are you here?" he asks next, trying to calm down and uncover the reason this asshead even had to come here.

"I'm a lumberjack, I cut trees for living" Zoro replies, sounding like it's something Sanji should've known himself without asking.

" _Funny_. I'm the tree spirit, and I forbid you from this" he narrows his eyes, tugging harsher on the lianas around the man's body. "Get lost"

"Yeah, like I can walk _anywhere_ with those weird tree tentacles around my body. Genius"

"If I break your legs, you won't walk at all" Sanji hisses—he reminds himself to finish this as soon as possible and get back to Nami, maybe find that little fairy Chopper again and ask him for help.

"Give me my axe back" the man says after Sanji releases him from the holds of the vines, but he slaps his hand away.

"Nuh-huh, this stays. Get the hell out of my forest or I'll snap your neck" he replies easily, but his voice is deep, borderline deity-like. It sends shivers down the man's spine as he looks directly at Sanji.

"I'll be back for it" he says, levelling the dryad—and Sanji breaks into a smile.

"I wouldn't try, if I were you. I'm not the only dryad here" he replies easily, and grabs the axe from the tree, soothing the cut with a caress of his palm.

"Then it's good that you're not me" the man grins.

The next time they meet, Nami is alive and well, and Sanji can't thank the little fairy that is Chopper enough—he's got her on her feet in a span of a few days, while Sanji himself has spent almost a month trying his best to keep her, at the very least, alive. He even goes to check on her birth tree to find a few little sprouts—and that's when he feels the sharp pain in his hands once _again_.

He has almost bellowed, when he realises the fucking lumberjacks are at it again, though this time the pain is sharper and more profound, and he feels the tree calling out to him in desperation—as he’s the closest.

Sanji wastes no time, absorbing back into the tree to move as fast as a dryad can—they are the spirits, so it only makes sense they can become one with the whole damn forest.

" _Was I unclear?!_ " he shouts, bursting out of the tree crown like a menacing creature he can be—and it's that green haired guy again, now with _three_ axes, a matte black handled one tucked safely on his waistband, while both of his hands are working tirelessly with red and black ornate ones to cut down the oldest maple tree on this side of the woods.

"Oh, you again. Give me back my axe" he says, though his hands continue working, smashing down the poor bark and—Sanji finally bellows, his roar echoing throughout the forest.

"You fucking—"

He feels the rage inside him burn with real fire, so he jumps out of the tree, this time he's much taller and he's towering over the human, his facial expression distorted in a fit of pain that the tree feels and his own rage.

"Now you look even dumber" the man comments, grinning and swiftly cuts the vine that creeps to his legs.

"Did I fucking stutter when I told you to _get lost_?!" Sanji feels more than hears his own voice, as it merges with his natural dryad power, trees around bowing to him.

The man glances around positively awed, but turns to the nymph with an assholish face.

"Oh, no, I heard you perfectly fine. I ought to tell you tho, that... No can't do" Zoro swishes the axes in his general direction, and there's a flicker of uncertainty for a split second, though it disappears as quickly as it came.

"I will _kill_ you" he threatens, and the man steps forward, throwing his arms wide, chest forward as if _daring_ Sanji to try.

"I know you can't," he says simply. "Or you'll become a dark dryad"

Sanji backs away a little—that is _true_ , but humans can hardly know that, it's a dangerous secret every dryad swears to keep hidden since birth.

"How'd you—" he blurts, and notices as the man's grin grows sharper.

"It was just a hunch from the stories I heard, but you _just_ confirmed it for me" the lumberjack whistles. "Means that those stories about the birth tree are true too"

Sanji straightens too quickly—those are...

The stories this greenhead is referring to are actually the sacred rituals amongst the dryads—the birth tree should be protected at all costs, because if it dies, the nymph of that tree dies with it.

How could humans know such things? Dryads swear on their life force to never show their birth tree to anyone who's not a nymph—of any kind. It's the same for everyone, wherever they come from—naiads protect their birth lake, and likewise oreads protect their birth mountain.

To show someone the place they've been born of is a pass of trust even—and it usually happens, when a nymph decides to spend their remaining lifetime with another nymph. Some say it's a marriage ritual—Sanji considers it highly romantic, he's not gonna lie.

It terrifies him—a human, knowing their sacred rituals is a considerable danger not only to their forest, but to every nymph in existence. He needs to stop the man from telling anyone about their truth. Even if it means he has to step on the path of the dark nymph and will never ever be able to reconnect with Nami, his favorite hamadryad, or Robin—a beautiful nereid that inhabits the pond deep inside their forest.

He'll protect them, even if it costs him his life.

"Hey, earth to Curly Boy?" the guy calls, finally lowering his axes, as he squints at the distorted face of the dryad—Sanji knows he's mutating right now, he can feel the creeping hands of the darkness touching the edges of his mind.

"What the fuck?!" the man blurts when Sanji grows even taller, the trees around them leaning to him to support—Sanji is at the edge of stepping over the line, when he feels Nami jumping out of a tree a few feet away.

"Sanji! Stop it!" she screams in dryad, and he realizes that he almost doesn't understand her plea, with how far he's gone already.

"I'm sorry, Nami, I have to—" his voice breaks into a howl of pain, as she cruelly severs the vines connecting him to the trees around.

"Like hell I'd let you!" she bellows, growing taller and it's now _her_ , who's towering above both of them.

He doesn't remember the last time she’s stepped outside of a tree, let alone has used her own might to subdue anyone. She's _much_ younger than him, and virtually weaker, but there's enough willpower in her to overcome it in times of need.

"What the fuck" the man murmurs, and Nami glowers at him.

"You—later" she flickers to the human tongue for a moment, before focusing her attention back on Sanji. "What the hell were you _thinking_ , you idiot!"

Sanji feels a flutter of love in his chest, as he realizes that she cares for him just as much as he cares for her, even if she's never the one to show it.

They've known each other for long, Sanji's even witnessed her birth—that's how he knows her tree, when she's never actually showed it to anyone. He loves her as his fellow dryad, as his friend, and he knows he'll do anything to protect her.

"Snap _out_ of it" she smacks him with her own lianas, and he feels a bite of pain, as the shock ripples through his distorted body.

Sanji tries to fight back the darkness only to realize that he no longer can as it has already housed itself in his mind.

"I can't" he manages, and it's barely tangible, he thinks it more than says, and she shrieks in fear—he hates to bring her so much pain, when all he wants is to protect her.

Nami shrinks to her human form, runs up to his roots and with a too quick to register movement she snatches the axe from the waistband of the guy and roughly smashes it onto his legs, separating the darker roots; she then commands the guy to do the same.

Zoro obliges in surprise, taking to other dark roots with more force than her and together they manage to untangle almost every black root, connecting to Sanji's body all while he cries out in pain—he has to endure, he just has to.

When the guy slams down his axes for the last time, Sanji feels every last bit of his strength drain—and he falls down, unable to support his monstrous form any longer. Nami dashes to catch him, but the green haired guy is faster and Sanji registers the impact a split second before his vision darkens.

When he comes to, he's in his own home—a tree he inhabits, with a concerned Nami by his side, prominent dark circles under her eyes. He feels a pang of hatred towards himself for making his dear friend go through such a harsh experience—but he has only ever wanted to save her.

Sanji jolts up remembering the guy, who has drawn him nuts and he scrambles to get going, before Nami reacts—she's barely awake and catches him by the wrist, stopping Sanji dead in his tracks.

" _Where_ do you think you're going?" she starts in a low voice, a threat obvious in her stare.

"I—" he tries, but his throat is hoarse and dry.

She yanks him back, forcing to stumble, losing any footing, and fall down onto the bed—and as if to underline her point, she grows some vines to pin him down.

"If you want to go after that guy, he's here" she tells him, back to her normal voice, and he sighs.

She must've read an unspoken question on his face, as Nami smiles and launches into explaining.

"He was positively terrified when you fell right into his arms, but he's not a bad guy"

"But Nami—" he tries under his breath.

"Yeah, he tried to cut down your favorite maple, but he's not gonna do it again"

Sanji slumps, unable to argue with her—as he can't with any lady, even human one, despite his dislike towards the race as a whole.

"I told him why you attacked" she continues, "and he's sorry"

"Like hell he is" Sanji mumbles to the side. "He's a fucking lumberjack"

Nami shoots him a stare, silencing him.

"Yeah, he is" she says, "or was"

He looks at her, puzzled—what she was implying was still eluding his understanding.

"I'm sorry to say this, but do you know people, Nami?" he tries, and it sits wrong with him—but for her own sake, he has to start this conversation some way.

She is young and she hasn't really experienced much of interactions with humans, as Sanji and other older dryads, who usually end up scaring them off, have.

"They are _lying_ , and they are _hateful_ " he almost spits his words—his anger is not directed at her, of course, it's towards humanity.

"I know" she replies easily. "But not this one"

Sanji, for once, doesn't believe her.

There could never be any possible justification for hurting nature—and humans did it constantly, without repercussions. He's old enough to hate them for _a reason_ , not because he's been told to by the Elders.

He's seen humans being ruthless with his own eyes, and felt it with his own hands—when those assholes came to the edge of their forest to try and take out a whole portion of it for some stupid reason. He _knows_.

"Zoro had a reason" she argues.

Sanji sighs, giving up—if Nami wants him to listen to that fucking lumberjack then he will, for her sake. And then—he'll decide if the man's worth his trust or, at the very least, acceptance.

"Okay" he agrees. "Where is he?"

Nami looks at him incredulously. "In _this_ state? I won't let you move a muscle until you get better"

Sanji falters. "But I'm okay"

"You been speaking to me in human language, _how_ are you okay?" she deadpans and he surrenders.

His rightful rage can wait until he gets a little better—he wouldn't want to worry Nami even more.

The man—Zoro, right?—has turned out to be a fucking _dumbass_ , who has ventured deeper into the woods to _fucking_ piss and got _fucking_ lost to the point of accidentally stumbling upon Robin's pond. She's been chatting with their local fairy, when he has fallen out of the bushes, cursing beyond himself. Though Robin herself remained calm, it was Chopper who yelped at the top of his lungs—which got him a just as startled scream from Zoro, who had probably never seen a fairy, nor a nereid.

By the time Sanji has finally got to the place, these three have already got acquainted.

Robin is the Elder among the nereids, though you'd never be able to tell that from her looks—she is as beautiful and young as the waterfall she's been born in.

She's lived long enough to know just _what_ humans are capable of—that sentiment Sanji shared with her.

Chopper, on the other hand, is a fairly young fairy. He migrated to this forest not long ago, after his home was invaded by humans and their technological advancements. He's been brought here as a toddler, so he doesn't really remember anything particular about humans—and seeing Zoro is the first for him. As for their guest, he's probably going crazy already—first, he witnesses two dryads' standoff, then helps chop off a whole ass living system and now he's seeing other mythical creatures.

"Surprised, mosshead?" Sanji sneers, looking pleasantly content with the way the man keeps looking over his shoulder, despite Chopper being all over him with his curious inspections.

"Oh, hey, curly-brow" the man snaps back, grinning. "Got better, _prissy_?"

Sanji glares at him, clutching his fist—he has to remind himself about a promise to Nami that he's not gonna attack the man until he listens to him.

"My name is Sanji" he replies, irritated. "Lady Robin, has this moss been a nuisance to you?"

"A-ra, Sanji, no need to worry" Robin laughs, clasping her elegant hand to her breathtaking lips. "Chopper actually likes him"

Sanji looks at their little fairy, all giddy from his first ever encounter with a real human, and smiles—Chopper might be a fairy and a little genius, but he's still a child, the youngest among them all.

"I need to talk to you" Sanji says patiently, standing beside the man after he's fully separated from the tree.

"But Sanji! He's such a nice sample! I don't have any human blood in my collection" Chopper whines, clutching at the man's hand like a baby.

"Oi, raccoon-guy, I'm not giving you my blood" Zoro jumps up and away from their little fairy.

Chopper looks terribly offended—he's actually an animal fairy spirit, a reindeer one, but everyone keeps viewing him as a raccoon because he is little and fluffy.

"I'm not a raccoon!" he bursts, tapping on his little horns on each side. "See this! It's horns!"

"Okay, okay" the man resigns, "but I still gotta talk to that curly"

Sanji rolls his eyes at him, stepping aside and prompting the man to follow him—the mosshead turns to the opposite direction.

" _Really?!_ " Sanji yelps, exhausted, and yanks on the forearm, forcing him to follow, which makes Robin laugh.

The dryad brute-forces him a good few hundred feet away from the pond—this part of the forest is darker than others, the tree crowns are tilting closer together. Sanji loves this place for the gift of solitude it gives him—other dryads don't like darker spots, they are like their creations, in favor of the sunlight.

"I don't know what _bullshit_ you told Nami, but I'm not buying it" he hisses, rudely shoving the man against the tree and immediately ties him to it with a short touch to the side branch.

"What the hell, curly!" the man trashes against the vines, but it's no use—the tree Zoro is being held up against is the _oak_ , and dryads are most powerful with oaks, with an exception for their birth trees.

"Now tell me the _truth_ , or I'll finish what I've started" Sanji looms closer, breaking the personal space of the human yet again.

He's shaking with energy flowing in him, and he notices the edges of the roots connecting him to the trees around darken a shade.

_No good_.

"Like hell I'm talking like this!" Zoro hisses back, visibly angry and he shuts his mouth defiantly.

Sanji seethes, his fingers curl as the vines get tighter around the fragile body of a human. "You, filthy little creatures know nothing about nature and all you do is destroying it"

Zoro glares at him, pointedly keeping silent.

"I've been protecting this forest and its nymphs for so long, and I won't fucking hesitate to surrender myself to fate if it saves them" Sanji jabs his finger to the man's chin, tilting it upwards, as he grows a little taller.

"Stupid" the man says, rolling his eyes.

" _Ex-fucking-cuse me?_ " Sanji jolts in surprise.

"That's stupid. You're putting your life on a line for such a dumb purpose" Zoro replies, a little at a loss for breath, as the vines hold him tight.

Sanji visibly shakes with anger at this point—he's right about humans, once again.

"What do you _know_! You've probably never protected anyone" he snaps, his voice going deeper, echoing in what seems to be something out worldly.

Zoro glares at him, "What do _I_ know?! I've never protected anyone?! You know _nothing_ of me!" he clobbers forward as much as the vines allow him, and clanks his teeth as if trying to bite off Sanji's face.

Instead of backing away, Sanji leans closer and harshly grips on his chin, looking at him through his fringe—he's pretty sure the man can now see his hidden eye up close, and he for once doesn't care that there's an ugly crust covering half of his face, as he growls. "What now? Gonna tell me a pitiful story? Been there, done that. Won't work"

It hurts him deeply to even remember that experience, Sanji's still not over the way his trust has been so easily betrayed for as little as the access to the shrine in the depth of the woods, to steal a relic of the Elders—just to fucking sell it on a human market. He's _never_ trusting a human, a male human especially, ever again.

"You know what? Fuck you" Zoro reiterates with just as powerful a growl—too much for a human; and he actually has the audacity to _spit_ Sanji in the face.

"Fuck you and your fucking forest, and your fucking nature and your fucking everything" Zoro rips himself off of the tree with sheer brutal force and Sanji is too stunned from shock to actually compel him back to it.

"You and your fucking trees can go fuck themselves over, as if I'd care" Zoro narrows his eyes at the dryad, who's still too confused to move.

Not getting any response, he turns on his heels and stomps away in god knows which direction, and Sanji is just staying there, dumbfounded and unable to process what has just happened—he's never gotten this much resistance from a human; they usually cowered in fear when he reached that point of nature resonance where his voice bordered on the creepy, synched with all of the noises of the forest adjoining in his speech. He's also never been spat in the face until now.

What the hell was that human?

It takes him a few minutes to calm down, and Sanji sees the dark roots retreating, as his breath evens out—when he feels a _kick_ to the gut, and there is no one around him, which can only mean that someone is attacking his birth tree. He crouches in pain, as it becomes more profound with every hit—and he can't move, his fingers weaken and he can't even absorb himself into the tree to travel to his birth tree to try and protect it. Sanji falls to his knees, hugging his stomach in a futile attempt to shield it—you cannot shield from something like this, you never can.

That's why you never show your birthplace to anyone, who's not able to understand—they'd just use it to gain the upper hand on you.

It stops as suddenly as it has come, and after a few long moments he's able to stand up again, hands shaking as he touches the oak he's been holding Zoro against, and allows it to suck him in, hurrying to get to his birth tree. There is no one there, and only the ruined bark, covered in splutters of blood at the very edge of the roots is proof something's happened at all—Sanji can only slide down the trunk, weakened and in pain.

He lets the forest noise lull him to sleep, hiding in the grown out vines that encircle him and hug, like mother—this tree _is_ his mother, after all. Sanji doesn't even notice the tears that fall down his cheeks, washing away the exhaustion and shock, as he drifts off to an uneasy sleep.

Chopper finds him entangled in his birth tree almost a week later—he still hasn't healed at the moment of his confrontation with Zoro, so this timely absence has been justified. But instead of being cheerful and happy at his discovery, the little fairy is horrified as Sanji has almost grown back into the tree.

He called upon Robin to help him, and only together they managed to separate him from his wooden womb carefully without damaging Sanji or his tree—and after, when he opened his eyes, they told him something that scared the shit out of him. In his absence, Nami ventured out of the woods in pursuit of something—and she's never been out of their forest before, so she doesn't know just how exhausting it is to be so far away from their life force as she apparently is.

He immediately sets after her, without as much as asking for permission from his Elders—he trusts Robin to figure it out.

As Sanji travels to the edge of the forest, he finds mikan sprouts here and there in a sporadic manner, a clear indication of the path Nami took to leave unnoticed by any other dryad except Sanji—what could have been the reason to hurry this bad?

He fears the worst: what if she's been kidnapped and dragged out of the forest to use her as leverage and bargain for that part of the forest they've been protecting? What if she started feeling sick again, and decided to leave the woods to peacefully die—outside of Sanji's reach, so that he can't keep her alive again?

He has no time to check her birth tree for any signs of decaying, as he jumps from tree to tree, following her fruitful steps. He fears the worst, so when he finally reaches the edge of the forest, he braces himself for everything—it doesn't help, he knows he's gonna be lifeless if he ever learns of her passing.

Sanji takes one last look at the forest, and jumps out of the utmost tree, landing gracefully on his toes—his limbs morphing into human-like, if only for the little greenish-yellow tips of his fingers, and the ever present crust on his right side of his face, that he always hides with a fringe—he also shuffles his hair to hide the apple blossoms floret, that sprouts generously on the same right side of his head as a sign of his birth tree.

Sanji mentally thanks Robin for advising him to grow out his hair, as it serves to be a great cover—though he still needs to find proper human clothing as fast as he can. The closest town to the forest is still pretty far in terms of distance for creatures that rely on their home to supply their life force—but Sanji has to endure it for as long as he needs to find Nami.

Sanji can do as much for her. He can do so much more.

He helpfully manages to find some clothing right on the first day, barging into some kind of a shop—a filthy human shop. A broad brimmed hat serves as a great cover for his blossoms, that grow out even more—his nature is subconsciously reaching for the only possible nutrition, which is the sun. Sanji stalks the town, listening to the conversations—if any of them mention a beautiful ginger headed girl with a mikan floret to serve as her accessories.

He finds none.

What he _does_ hear is the talk of the town: about a man named Zoro having a serious brawl with a local lumberjack company. He listens closely to that—there might be a lot of humans named Zoro, for all he knows about human naming traditions; but he knows only one Zoro, and he holds out hope it's the same one.

Sanji learns, how the Zoro from the news has barged into the company's barn, early in the morning and brute-forced a few of the automatic saws with his axes, only later being finally apprehended by a handful of men—he also learns that Zoro has dared the company to admit publicly that they mutilate nature for their own profit and not for any useful purpose.

Sanji feels something akin to appreciation, if only it's the Zoro he knows. He thinks back to their interaction, how the raged man cursed the very soil Sanji thrives on, and yet went out of his way to fuck up a company that aimed to incinerate his forest not once. As grateful as he is and as curious as he is to find out whether it's the same Zoro, right now Sanji has another objective—he has to find Nami, she's been out long enough to feel drained; and that's _never_ good for a nymph. He knows better than anyone—growing up a moody, hot-tempered dryad, always searching for the ways to leave the forest for good and integrate with humans—he's even taken up smoking some hundred years ago, to flip off the Elders.

Sanji now knows better than to poison his body with human toxic ideology—his birth tree was smoldering inside out, when he was smoking. Nothing good ever comes out of destroying his own birth tree, he's learned it the hardest way—if the crust on his face is of any indication.

Sanji spends another day hiding in the dim alleys of the town, when he finally catches a gossip of a charming beauty that walks the streets in the early mornings—one with sun-kissed hair and a lovely headpiece made with exotic flowers. There's no mistaking that this is his friend, as Sanji knows how Nami loves the morning sun rays to bathe in. Now he only needs to intercept her—and that turns out to be hard as shit, because she does a great job of deceiving everyone.

Sanji eventually manages to catch sight of her only a few days later, as she ventures into the market as early as dawn—he notices the signs of forest withdrawal right away: her hair is bleaker, she moves slowly yet just as gracefully, and her flowers are almost lifeless.

Sanji suppresses the urge to immediately run up to her, fearful of startling and scaring the woman, so he quietly follows her to the outermost side of the town, to a little hut that looks almost abandoned—if only for the lights inside. He realizes that his insides churn at the thought of what might await him, but he's never the one to shy away from a fight or anything for that matter, so he calms his thundering heart and approaches the hut, fingers crossed in hope of finding her in good condition.

He knocks on the door quietly—his heart drops when he touches the dead wood, as the hut goes silent and still.

"Uh... Nami, it's me, Sanji" he whispers, and instantly there are shuffles and curses inside, as someone scrambles to run to the door and it swings open mere moments later, with Nami launching herself on him, hugging as tight as she can in her current state—which is to say still as tight as usual, if his loss of steady footing is any indication.

Nami's never been the affectionate one, but maybe being among the humans, who can't really understand her as well as dryads can, has affected her to a degree.

"Sanji! What are you—! How did you—! Are you alright?!" she barrages him with questions, touching his hidden crust as if to check if it's really him, and not someone parading as.

"Yes, I— Nami, are _you_ alright?" he quickly asks, as he notices a leaf falling out of her floret.

"Well, mostly, yes" she admits, albeit reluctantly, "It's fine"

Oh, he's _not_ having it.

"Why are you here? Why did you leave? Do you know how dangerous it is—" he launches into panicking, as a small voice interrupts them with "Nami? Who is he?"

Only then Sanji notices a lady, laying in the furthest corner of the little hut—she looks sick, as sick as a human can get. She's pale and weak, her lips are barely moving as she speaks.

Nami untangles herself from her friend, instantly all business—as if it wasn't her who had just hung on his shoulders in an obvious relief.

"It's Sanji. He's a dryad too" Nami explains, stepping to the side to give the woman a better view.

Sanji feels his stomach flipping, when he hears her admitting their nature so easily. That's _dangerous_ , what if the woman sells them out—it's not a good thought to be having about a woman, and he immediately reprimands himself mentally.

Yet.

"I've never heard of male dryads" the woman sighs in awe, propping up on her elbows to squint at him.

"He's not the only one, though he usually acts as he is" Nami chuckles, and shoves him to the shoulder.

"Nami..." he starts in a weak voice.

"Oh, right! Sanji, meet Kuina, Kuina, meet Sanji" she tugs him along, closer to the bed-ridden woman. "He can help us!"

"I can what..." he mumbles, still trying to assess the whole situation.

"Can I... See your blossoms?" Kuina asks, and there's so much sincere interest in her voice that Sanji finds himself unable to resist.

He takes off his stolen hat—along with a few leaves—and puts it aside; the woman gasps in pleasant surprise. She must've never seen any blossoms aside from Nami's—though his are in no way comparable to the beauty of mikan flowers, only a mere shadow of the magnificence.

"They are _beautiful_ " she says, still small and weak, but filled with so much adoration, that Sanji finds himself blushing from attention.

"Uh, thank you, miss Kuina" he whispers shyly.

"Sanji! Help me carry her to Chopper!" Nami orders once she's done appreciating the scene.

"What? You mean... You want to carry her into the forest?" he backs away in shock.

"Yes! I want him to take a look at her" she says confidently, striding to Kuina’s bed in a non-negotiable manner. "Remember how he got me up on my feet in just a few days?"

"Well, you are a hamadryad, but there's just so much he can do for a human '' Sanji weakly objects, but it's more of an uncertainty rather than a real objection.

"We have to try," she turns to him with a smile—he can't ever say no to such a beautiful smile, can he?

"Yeah.." he agrees, walking down to the bed—now that he's closer, he sees the unmistakable markers of a death on her; it's no short of a miracle that Kuina has lived for so long.

"What in the fucking hell are you doing here?!" Sanji jolts from his toes to his head, when a roar erupts behind him—its voice is unmistakable.

It's _Zoro_.

"What! What are _you_ doing here!" he retorts, instantly on offensive.

Sanji turns around on his heels, awkwardly shielding two ladies behind him with just a little grown out lianas.

"That's my fucking home, you _plant_ " the man stares at him from where he has frozen at the doorstep.

"Your what—"

"My damn _home_ " the man replies, as if he's talking to an idiot.

Which Sanji probably is—how couldn't he notice the familiar axes and lumberjack clothes thrown all over the place.

"Zoro, _shut_ it. Sanji's gonna help us help Kuina" Nami interjects with a frown.

"Like hell I'll let him touch my sister" Zoro growls, stepping forward menacingly.

" _Your sister!?_ " Sanji yelps, not quick enough to suppress his voice.

"Ah, right, forgot to mention. Kuina is Zoro's older sister" Nami says nonchalantly, completely ignoring the tense atmosphere between the man and the dryad. "I'm too weak to carry her, and you've done enough damage to our forest for the Elders to issue a bounty for your head, so shut it, Zoro"

"I didn't mean—" he starts, visibly deflating at the mention of his axe shenanigans.

"I know. That's why Sanji will help me. _Right_ , Sanji?" she looks at him expectantly, as if she doesn't already know the answer to her question.

Of course, he will.

"Stick it up your ass, mosshead" he mutters.

Sanji would want to say that Zoro's so pathetic that he couldn't even save his own sister—but he _knows_ the symptoms. Even if Zoro tried his _hardest_ , he wouldn't be able to do anything. The man glares at him through the whole _'pick Kuina up without hurting her'_ process, as Nami commands Sanji around—he's only the happiest to oblige.

"If you drop her, I'll chop your head off" he warns, once they've exited the hut, and start moving to the forest with the woman, and Sanji stares at him incredulously.

"Try it, and I'll grow moss in your _heart_ " he allows. "Doubt you'd survive"

"You fucker—"

"Zoro, chill" Kuina weakly whispers, trying to caress her brother's shoulder—he's escorting them, as both dryads are too weak to fight, and he also wants to be sure they won't drop her anywhere on the way—as if Sanji would ever do it to a lady.

"You sure Chopper can cure this? That little raccoon?" he asks Nami, and Sanji stumbles at the amount of sincere concern in his voice.

"Hey, watch it!" Zoro immediately shouts back, and Sanji grimaces at him—he'd flip him off if he could, but his both hands are busy with carrying Kuina.

"He's a reindeer fairy, and yes, he can" Nami assures him, ever so confident of her estimation.

Sanji wants to believe her too—he wants to believe this death curse can be lifted with the fairy hooves of their little friend. He's not as delusional, though, but he does his best to avoid thinking about it.

"He can't, right?" Kuina whispers to his ear, as quiet as it needs to be to bypass Nami's excessive hearing and Zoro's concerned bustling.

Sanji stares at her—how can a human understand so much, yet be so accepting. The only humans he's ever met have been greedy, and they've scratched at every end to keep themselves alive—not accept their destiny with such readiness.

"I've been sick for years" she clarifies, smiling at him—weak but still warm. "He's been trying everything to help me. He's even accepted that lumberjack job to pay for my meds"

Sanji falters for a mid-second—Zoro's been abusing their forest not for his own sake, but his _sister's_.

"Are you... the one to tell him stories about nymphs?" Sanji asks quietly—he needs to know where the moss head learned of their rituals.

"Our mom used to tell us... Until she, uh" she coughs up blood mid-sentence, and Zoro is immediately at their side, glaring at Sanji as if he's done something bad to her.

"Relax, relax" she smiles at him. "Just another cough, nothing special"

Zoro inspects them with levelled suspicion, but retreats back to Nami, asking her different questions about how Chopper can save Kuina.

"I've always dreamt of meeting your kind" Kuina trusts him with something private. "To be honest, I've always dreamt of being one, like.. I'd jump into the ponds or lakes and call out to nereids and naiads, but they've never responded"

Sanji smiles at that—the water nymphs are quiet creatures, introverted for the most part, and they hardly interact with other nymphs, let alone humans. Nereids especially, as they suffered a lot from all of the pollution that goes nearby big towns or cities, so the majority of them retreated to the deepest parts of the forest, forming a pact with dryads, and some went into hiding inside the mountains and grottoes, forming a pact with oreads. It's been difficult to cohabitate with naiads, as they primarily favored freshwaters, but with no place to run to, nereids managed to come to peace with their relatives.

"I know one nereid, she lives in our forest" he says, smiling at the woman. "She's outstandingly beautiful, you'll know when you see her" Sanji tells her, as if these words are to keep her spirits up in the face of inevitable death.

It's probably good that Zoro isn't allowed inside the forest, or he'd do something disastrous after he'll learn of her condition.

"I'd like to meet her" Kuina smiles happily, and Sanji wishes they can make it before it's too late.

Kuina has held it for so long, but he can feel her time running out—it is now a race against fate itself.

Chopper meets them at the edge of the forest—as a fairy, he's bound to a place even stronger than the nymphs, and leaving can cost him his life. The only way he survived the moving when he was still a toddler was because he hadn't yet resonated with the place—his benefactor wasn't as lucky.

"Sanji! Nami! We've been so worried!" he exclaims the second he sees them, and he flies up excitedly—seeing them both alive is such a relief.

"Moss human! Lady human!" Chopper chirps right after, as he spots two other people with them, and when he properly looks at Kuina, his face whitens a considerable beat.

Zoro is instantly alert, shooting questioning glances at Nami—but she taps him on the shoulder and tells him to wait here. Tells him that they'll be back with Kuina healthy anew.

Sanji shuffles more of his fringe into his face with a shake of his head to hide a sad smile that tugs at his lips. He doesn't know how they will give the man the news—he's trusted them with the most sacred person, and Sanji knows beforehand they won't be able to help him. It's a harsh truth to hide, but Kuina looks up at him, smiling, and he enters the forest, taken aback with the sensations of his home—he's been away long enough to find it overwhelming.

"Nami... I _can't_ help her..." Chopper whispers, glancing cautiously at the woman in Sanji's arms.

"Sure you can" Nami assures him, and Sanji finally feels the fear and the way Nami is endlessly terrified to admit it is a completely futile attempt to save the woman—they both resonate with nature, and he can register her emotions just from that.

"Don't worry, little deer, I know I can't be helped" Kuina allows, smiling to Chopper as sincerely as she can manage.

"I'm Chopper!" he perks up, little wings fluttering, and then he drops down, upset. "I'm so sorry... Maybe if only I had more time"

"It's not your fault, Chopper" Sanji says, and—Nami snaps at him, a liana stopping mere inches away from his face.

"She'll live!" she bulldozes her opinion, and Sanji suddenly knows _what he has to do_.

"Nami, can you please hold onto Kuina for me? I need to go to the Elders" Sanji steps closer to his friend, as she absent-mindedly pulls her arms up, and takes Kuina into them.

"What?" she squints at him with suspicion. "What do you need from the Elders?"

"Nothing much, I'll just ask them to let Zoro in," Sanji says, smiling at her. "I think I know what can help her"

Chopper looks at him even more suspicious than Nami—he knows just as well as Sanji, that Kuina is not to be helped. Sanji drops to the fairy's height, and whispers _'Remember where you've found me?'_

Chopper nods, still not quite getting the idea that has crossed Sanji's mind. _'Guide Nami there. She's never seen my birth tree, so she won't know’_

The fairy's eyes widen, as he finally understands the implications of Sanji's plan and he ushers to his ear.

"Are you sure about this?" his voice trembles with concern, as he looks up at Sanji—it feels so nice to be cared about.

"Yes, I am. Now go" he helps Chopper get moving as he himself turns to the other direction—to the secret shrine of the Elders, the one that has been reassembled after his grave mistake.

Sanji just hopes the Elders will listen to him—after all, he's free to decide something like this completely on his own, isn't he?

The shrine is illuminated by little candles—no doubt lady Bellmere's choice, she loves cute things like these. Sanji steadies his heartbeat before separating from the tree he's used to get to the place faster, and prepares for the inevitable confrontation.

"Master Zeff—" he starts, stepping inside the shrine, when something is immediately thrown in his direction—he has to duck, to avoid damage. Not that it will bring him any considerable harm, but it’s still better to duck.

"No" the oldest dryad grouses, even before Sanji's finished his introduction. "Whatever you want to ask of, my answer is no"

"I kindly ask for your permission to incite the splitting" Sanji says anyway, and there are heads sharply turned to him with varying degrees of shock.

"The _splitting_?! Sanji, have you lost your mind?" It's Robin, the Nereid Elder who speaks up first. "You understand the consequences of it, right?”

Sanji simply nods—there is not much need for words now, everyone in the shrine has understood him loud and clear. He wants to split his lifetime to give it up for another person. He knows it's the right thing to do, and he's gonna defend his decision until he gets the green light.

"Is there anything we can do to make you change your mind?" It's Madam Kureha, the Fairy Elder who asks him now.

He shakes his head, firmly standing his ground.

"You're an idiot, eggplant" finally voices Zeff, the Dryad Elder. "You realize there will be less time for you to live?"

Sanji smiles, utterly happy despite everything.

"I think it will be just enough for me"

The whole shrine sighs in unison—Sanji has always been a stubborn idiot, and everyone is more or less attuned to it by now.

"Okay" Zeff grunts, and his hand extends to Sanji's face, barely touching—he's giving him _the mark_. "Dumb kid"

Sanji smiles, as his heart beats faster, the closer he gets to his birth tree via their tree web of the forest—he knows Nami is there already, and she's at a loss as to why she has ended up there instead of Chopper's little hideout.

He feels a bit sorry for the fairy, as he has to deal with the interrogation. Hopefully, she's laid Kuina as close to his birth tree as Chopper has managed to make her without raising extra suspicion.

"Sanji, what the hell—" she shrieks when he appears above the midsection of his apple tree.

"I'm sorry, Nami" Sanji says, but it's a light sorrow, not the grief he's had last time he told her that.

"What do you— No, Sanji! Sanji, it's—!" she gasps, reaching for Kuina's barely breathing body when his vines entangle her and bring her closer to the very roots of his tree.

"There _has_ to be another way!" she tries to reach him with her vines, but it's too late—he's already entangled too, right beside Kuina, who's just lost consciousness.

"That's the only way," he assures her with a smile. "We'll be alright"

"But Sanji—!" is the last thing he hears, before the tree absorbs them both in.

" _Sanji—!_ "

When Sanji finally opens his eyes, Kuina is already free of the tree's hold—and she's now in the arms of Zoro, who's actually ugly crying, all while she caresses his stupid head. Sanji notes that the man’s face has changed, as he now sports a bright red scar across his left eye—and he briefly wonders how that happened. The white apple blossoms floret on the side of Kuina’s head looks _shiny_ in the glistening light of the morning—Sanji can't help but smile.

It's actually Chopper who notices him, and jumps with a yelp of his name, catching everyone's attention—a few tens of sets of eyes turn to him, and each is easily read as relieved; even Zeff is here, though he rarely leaves the shrine. Nami jumps at him the first, both with her fists, and her hugs, as she sobs into his shoulder with a quiet _'I was afraid I'd lose you'_ and he caresses her hair too, brushing the freshly grown mikan leaves—she actually giggles at that.

" _Finally_ , Sanji" Robin moves to him, helping him to step out of the tree’s hold, as he's barely able to control his body—it's been a few months, probably, since they've been absorbed into his birth tree to split his lifetime in two.

Looking at the way Kuina basically gleams with happiness, Sanji realizes he's made the right call. Chopper though goes full on wailing, clutching at Sanji's shoulders for support—a bad idea, considering Sanji needs some serious support to stand upright himself.

Which immediately comes in the strong arms of the mosshead, as Zoro catches Sanji when the dryad stumbles after a few wobbly steps.

"So much for stupid heroism" he mumbles, nudging to the side of Sanji ever so slightly. "I'm sorry I've said those things. I can never thank you enough for my sister's life"

"Oh, please, simple _thank you_ is more than enough, mosshead" he smiles, but he doesn't try to escape the confident hold of the man's arms—that's something he didn't expect to occur at all.

"It's Zoro, curly-brow" the man laughs, helping Sanji to sit down in the grass.

"And it's Sanji, idiot," he reiterates, no malice in his voice as he laughs quietly.

Kuina beams brightly at her brother and Sanji both, so bright that the latter thinks he might just have been blinded with that smile of hers.

"So what, you're my crutch now?" Sanji bites, nudging him away—but Zoro only sits beside, allowing the dryad to lean onto his shoulder with his back.

"Uh-huh, and I'll follow you to the ends of the world" Zoro bites back. "As if"

Sanji snaps his fingers, annoyed, and a vine comes out of his birth tree entangling Zoro and pushing him a bit further away.

"Pity, I thought to maybe cash out that debt of yours with some piggyback rides around the forest" Sanji jokes, and he doesn't really mean it—he hopes the man understands that too.

He's made the choice solely out of his own volition and not because he'd want the man to be indebted to him. Zoro owed nothing to Sanji, as did Kuina.

"Pity you have your own legs to use" Zoro shoots back, and they laugh—no hard feelings between them, which feels incredible.

Maybe Sanji's still kinda high on just being separated from his birth tree—it feels as if he's been born anew; but he giggles and forces the still-entangled Zoro back, to use him as a stand to keep his back upright.

"Don't expect me to fall in love with you now, I'm a strictly ladies man" he warns, because he just wants to voice it.

"And I'm not into mythical creatures" Zoro replies, just as nonchalantly.

As it will have turned out a year later; they've jinxed it.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated!♥


End file.
